The Kodak Digital Cinema System, designed for cinema advertising, is a network of high-quality servers, digital projectors, and software that enables the advertising to load and display on the screens without any operator involvement. Through this unique software, Kodak's operating system is connected to the theater's automation, as well as to its ticketing systems. At the present time, the system is used to show advertising prior to the start of the feature film. The feature film is either shown using a traditional motion picture film projector or a digital projector.
The Kodak Digital Advertising Cinema Operating System (ACOS)™ utilizes an automation interface that operates as a communication interface between the theater automation equipment and the ACOS Content Player (CP). Signals from the Automation Interface allows status information to be communicated from the feature projector so that the CP knows when it is suitable to play the pre-show content.
There are many different automation systems used in the industry today. This variation in equipment prevents a “typical” connection between the automation interface and the automation of the feature projector. The particular feature projector automation system and the workflow in the projection booth determine the connection required. To allow for proper operation, the CP is required to know the status of the feature projector to prevent the digital pre-show from playing at inappropriate times. If the feature projector is on, the ACOS system is preferably off. If the feature projector is off, the ACOS system can show content as scheduled. The ACOS automation interface should be able to accommodate any workflow that the projectionist would use in the operation of the feature projector. This could be automatically through the automation system or manually without the automation system. In the event that the projectionist must operate the projector manually, normal automation status signals will not be received by the automation interface. This could potentially allow the advertising projector and feature projector to be showing content at the same time, thus ruining the theatrical experience for viewers.